Speakers, plasma screens, and other objects are traditionally mounted to a wall in one of two ways. One method uses a bracket that surrounds a cutout in the wallboard. The bracket typically has a flange that overlays the front surface of the wallboard, and extends away from the cutout on the top, bottom, and sides. A decorative cover is then used to hide the flange. In a more modern version shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,129 to Hecht (February 2006), the flange is itself decorative, which obviates the need for a separate cover. The other traditional method of mounting an object to a wall is to extend the object housing from the front side of the wallboard. An example of that approach is the surface mounted loudspeaker and bracket of U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,840 to Cowan et al. (January 2005).
The '129 and '840 patents, and all other referenced extrinsic materials are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
A much more recent development is flush mounting of wall mounted objects, which to some individuals provides a more desirable appearance. Flush mounting is accomplished by cutting a hole in the wall board, inserting a bracket having a rim that approximates the thickness of the wallboard, and then spackling up to the edge of the rim. In prior art FIGS. 1A and 1B, for example, a panel 10 is placed behind the wallboard 30. The speaker housing 16 extends out the back side of the panel 10 (i.e. inside the wall), and a bracket 14 coupled to the panel 10 has a rim portion 14A that extends above the panel 10 by a distance 15. The installer then spackles along the front side of the wallboard 30 up to the edge of the rim 14.
Unfortunately, the current flush mounting techniques have several drawbacks. One drawback is that they can be extremely difficult to install in an already finished wall. Since the wallboard juxtaposes the rim portion of the bracket, any defect in size or positioning of the bracket can be readily observed without considerable skill during the spackling stage. Even in a new construction situation, the fact that the critical taping and spackling is performed right at the connection between the wallboard and the rim, means that the defect is readily apparent to even a casual observer. A third drawback is that positioning of the panel behind the wallboard reduces what may be already very limited space for the speaker.
Thus, there is still a need for flush-mount speaker systems and methods that facilitate installation, and provide greater room for a speaker housing.